Please pray for Laurie's mother. She went in for MINOR outpatient
surgery the day before yesterday morning and had some complications
with the anesthesia. She was kept in ICU overnight, thinking she
would be OK to go home the next day. Shockingly, she went into
emergency surgery yesterday for a Pacemaker. Please Pray! +Please
pray that Divine Mercy will shine upon those souls who have taken
their own lives this day. +

Lord, help them as You know
and will. God's will is best. All is mercy and grace. God is never
absent, praise Him! Thanks so much. JL

March 23, July 23, November 22
Chapter 43: On Those Who Come Late to the Work of God or to Table

Anyone who does not come to table before the verse,
so that all together may say the verse and the oration
and all sit down to table at the same time --
anyone who
through his own carelessness or bad habit
does not come on time
shall be corrected for this up to the second time.
If then he does not amend,
he shall not be allowed to share in the common table,
but shall be separated from the company of all
and made to eat alone,
and his portion of wine shall be taken away from him,
until he has made satisfaction and has amended.
And let him suffer a like penalty who is not present
at the verse said after the meal.

REFLECTION

OK, before we all get hopelessly mired in the belief that St.
Benedict is REALLY mired in punctuality issues, let's try a parable
reality check. What if every bus (or train or plane or subway,)
waited for the latecomer to arrive? For starters, the schedule of
everyone sitting helpless on that mode of transportation would be
disrupted. Everyone would be late, every single one. Some would miss
work, others a wedding, others still a connection with friends to
leave on vacation. If all public transport followed such a program,
our whole world would be a chaotic mess of very unhappy campers in
nothing flat.

Benedictine communities do things together. Usually, that means that
a late arrival at a meal keeps everyone sitting there when already
finished, waiting for the tardy one to eat. (Occasionally a superior
will intervene and end the meal more or less on time, but often that
is not the case. Everybody waits.) This lengthening of the meal then
throws the whole schedule off. The Office cannot suffer, it's times
are inexorable, so what usually gets clipped is free time, recreation
or work. Rob people of these on a regular basis and they can get very
annoyed!

Lateness which is unavoidable is just that, unavoidable. That's a
time when the meal ought to be prolonged, when the others ought to
witness that we "bear one another's burdens" and so fulfill the law
of Christ. However, chronic unnecessary lateness is often a sign of
lack of consideration, lack of care for others, maybe even of lack of
respect. Brother X is my brother. I am responsible for a large chunk
of his communal life. If I say that doesn't matter and stroll into
dinner whenever I feel like it, something is terribly wrong with me.
I need to have my skewed vision and values corrected. That's what
this is all about: loving one another rightly.

Much of the Holy Rule which deals with communal life (and is VERY
easy
to apply to family life or workplace,) has to do with what should
really be
common courtesy and decency. Granted, sometimes those values get
wrapped in ancient language and gesture, making it less easy to see
how
simple and modern they are, but those exhortations to polite,
considerate,
gentle living are things anyone can follow in any milieu, to great
benefit!
Many of those courtesies are threatened or altogether lacking today.
Helping
keep them alive may start a conversion in another we will never know
until
heaven.